Tiny Tina, we remember, is a little girl we met and appreciated with the Borderlands series. On that occasion Tina was a secondary character; nice, but secondary. Now, Tiny Tina finally has a game of her all about her, where anything can happen and nothing is as it seems. So let’s find out when Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is out of the ordinary with this review.
The review of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
The first thing you usually do in a review is to explain what genre the game you are dealing with. In this case, honestly, it’s the first difficulty. There are shooters and there are board game simulators; two completely different genres, but Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands manages to be both.
Tiny Tina’s Woderlands è a spinoff from the Borderlands series from which he takes with both hands the light-hearted approach and the graphic style not photorealistic (cel shading, for the more technical) that distinguishes it. In particular, we are faced with the continuation of Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, where the foundations were laid for the game we are reviewing today.
Within Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands we are, in fact, sitting at a table and we’re playing an RPG in the company of Valentine (with the voice of Andy Samberg) and Frette (played by Wanda Sykes). The game, Bunkers and Badasses, comes ruled by Tina as the dungeon master and consists of two views: one from above where we move the pawn of our character in a diorama and a first-person where we shoot and cast spells. The transition from one mode to another is governed by our actions and Tina’s whims. The ultimate goal is to reach the end of the story to eliminate the evil dragon lord (voiced by Will Arnett).
The game it can be played alone or in a group of up to four players both local with shared screen and remote via the Internet. Furthermore, thanks to the use of the SHIFT service, remote play is also cross-platform. Unfortunately, from what we have seen, there are (as often happens with other games) some technical problems for the first few days, but we are convinced that they will be resolved quickly.
A good story, but the most bizarre ever
History, if we are to be picky, is enough adhering to the model of a classic fantasy role-playing campaign; the true strong point, however, is how it is told. If the suggestion given to us by the name of the game, Bunkers and Badasses, which plays the verse to Dungeons & Dragons (and to the lesser known Tunnels & Trolls) were not enough, the first five minutes of the game are enough to remove any doubts.
First, Tina’s voiceover gives an ongoing narrative of what’s happening using her own style. The thing we found absolutely funny is that as the story unfolds, our character knows he is in a game, and Tina treats him accordingly.
Tina then, as dungeon master, will often change the cards on the table right in front of our eyes. So, anything can happen; for example a siege that appears suddenly or ships that are literally lowered from the sky. Sometimes, even Valentine and Frette will contest the “not enough fantasy” elements; so she will have to correct herself, albeit in her own way. As in the case (the only spoiler we give you, we promise) of an explosive C4 which, after a complaint from Frette, becomes a Fanta-C4.
In addition to what has just been said, there are also many minor elements that contribute to reinforcing this very particular narrative. Such as, bottle caps and chips on the diorama (who among us, who has played a role, has never happened?) or the dragon lord himself who contacts us and wishes good luck for our adventure because, you know, we are the hero.
All of these things, let’s face it, from a Borderlands spin-off can be expected, but Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands really makes it its main element.
Borderlands mechanics with some variation
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands it inserts, compared to Borderlands, some mechanics typical of RPGs. For the first time it is possible to create a character and, in addition to deciding its appearance, defining its abilities. We have six classes to choose from and each draws from an archetype typical of fantasy settings: warrior, wizard, archer and thief / assassin. Our impression, however, was that the choice of class is not strictly decisive, if not in the distinction between preferably close or ranged combat. The real progression system is, as in Borderlands, to find more and more powerful equipment.
Speaking of equipment, the pseudo-random generation of weapons is still there with all its features. Distributors were also retained to buy and sell equipment, including timed specials. Unfortunately, what we weren’t able to get excited about was the loot collection system due to the somewhat small lettering and some difficulty in making a comparison with the equipment already in use. However, if you want to be a little lazy, you can just look at the weapon level ignoring statistics; you will not be penalized in a sensitive way.
With respect to weapons, there are two noteworthy changes. First of all, Melee weapons were first introduced, without a class limit and also generated in a pseudo-random way; these become useful, as well as in combat, to break objects and interact with some environmental elements. Furthermore, it should be noted that grenades have been replaced by spells; there are various types that recharge at different times, but they can represent interesting variations for our game strategy.
A difficult audio sector to evaluate
Doing an overall review of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands from a sound point of view was rather complex; so, in the end, we opted to radically separate the soundtrack and dialogue.
The soundtrack is, unfortunately, not very engaging; in fact, even the boss fights at the end of the level fail to excite us too much. They are challenging, winning is rewarding, but we didn’t feel the rush of adrenaline we expected. This is probably a choice due to the fact that it’s the voiceover of Tina that really makes us the soundtrack. Always there to cheer us on, comment and warn us of new enemies that appear. Unfortunately, in our case, this was only partially successful.
The dialogue part, on the other hand, is a totally different experience. Tina’s voice (by Ashly Burch, whom we already know for Aloy) continue to keep our interest alive and entertain ustelling what is happening in a playful and unpredictable way. The two shoulders, Valentine and Frette do a great job too both in terms of speech quality and never intervening inappropriately.
All this quality, unfortunately, brings with it a problem. A regionalization in Italian would probably have been extremely complex and perhaps even too expensive, with the risk of not being equally effective. Therefore, the game only offers subtitles in our language and not speech. This, the only real drawback of the game, represents a tangible barrier of entry for those who do not have brilliant English. If outdated, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands can be fully enjoyed; otherwise, it is possible to play by reading the subtitles, but unfortunately it is not the same thing.
Summary of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands at a glance
If you enjoyed the Borderlands series, this game will surely meet your tastes. The addition of the RPG elements are new but they don’t detract from the style that previous games in the series have accustomed us to. The storytelling is certainly one of the most interesting elements of the game, even if the story has some problems to stand out for its originality. In addition, there is unfortunately a language barrier which, if overcome, can make it your favorite game for 2022.
We would like to suggest the purchase. However, if you have any doubts as to whether you can fully like it, you can first give it a try with Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep (which you can find on offer these days) to be able to decide with a few more elements.